Vacation can't come fast enough....

To my loyal three readers...so sorry that i haven't updated but because no one in my office can come to work i can't steal away time to update....

Thank god i'm going to Disney in two weeks...i plan to stroll drunkenly at epcot and do my trip around the world through my belly. I don't think i would have made it all the way to Yellowstone. Best trip for your budget...someone else pays.

And now back to the cheap Miami misadventures. The last time i left off it was Swamp Stomp Weekend...or for those who know picklisms and don't waste beer it was Swamp Stamp. As i was posting the last few blogs i was at Wendy's apartment enjoying the smells of dinner wafting over. She made a delicious skirt steak marinated in Italian dressing (great marinade for the budget conscious because it has the acid/oil combo with GARLIC), garlic carrots and salad. After that i had to shuttle off to Lydia's so i could wake up before the sun was even considering its appearance to work some overtime. Monger and i are willing to give up some of our Saturdays in exchange for oddles of vacation time. The thing is that i didn't realize i'd be filing and risking my life on the top of some rikety ladder filing....he of course photodocumented the scene shortly before my 4 inch stack took a tumble. After i had done my time we took off for the deliciousness of Casola's. I had thier Turkey Croissant. I haven't had the ones from France but i can tell you that in my mind those are the best thing i know.

After a much needed nap i went back to Lydia's to head off for The Bayside Hut out on Virginia Key. Monger and myself decided it would be wise to fill up a cooler with beer of our own and pre-game in the parking lot. Wendy and company were late anyway so it gave us plenty of time. We were out there for almost two hours so by the time we went in we were all in a happy place. I even missed the tent with the free Black and Mild's!!!!! The cheap ten dollar entrance was totally worth it to see JUKE. They always make my saturday night. The two dollar PBR's helped too...I danced and sang and had a great night that was capped off with more Casola's. This time it was in the form of hangover killer giant pizza slice!!!!

Sunday i woke up feeling like a million bucks and conned my mother into going to Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden for thier Garden Festival. I needed some herbs that i was still missing and as members my mom and i get in for free. This is another one of the city's hidden jewels. The membership fee is totally reasonable and you get entrance into all of thier festivals and special events just for members, like seeing the garden at night during the winter. For less than fifteen bucks i walked away with honey from the keys, a sage plant and some delicious conch fritters in my belly. I also picked up some cards from local organic gardening resources!

I was trying to play the rest of the coming week on the cheap so i made a vegetable curry with some curry paste i had lying around and tossed in shrimp that i had bought earlier that day, cashews i had, and from my share carrots, kale, onion, green pepper and sweet potato. It was pretty delicious once i got passed the burning off my tongue part....That was my lunch for a few days with some brown rice. I also steamed the giant head of broccoli and tossed it in with some of the leftover roasted tomatoes from the previous share (drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and tossed in the oven until bubbly), heavy cream, fresh grated parmesan and pasta. The sweetness of the tomatoes was perfectly balanced by the parmesan and the cream covered the broccoli enough to make it tolerable. i am pretty over broccoli at this point.

The homemade highlight of the week was actually a Nigella Lawson recipe. I have several of her cookbooks that i turn to for inspiration occasionally. She has an amazing carbonara receipe that i always turn to when i need something salty and cheesy. I had also seen a receipe for pasta with peas, cream and ham that i had to try. With the peas from my share i made this that i am still craving this week!

Pasta with peas, cream and ham
taken from FEAST by Nigella Lawson

200 g farfalle or other short pasta
100 g frozen petits pois
150 ml double cream
150 g diced ham
2 tbsp grated parmesan

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in plenty of salted boiling water, and then after 5 minutes add the peas to the pasta water.
When the pasta is cooked, drain well with the peas. Put the dry pan back on the heat with the cream, ham and parmesan and warm it through. Add the pasta and peas back to the pan, tossing everything together well.